I have no idea why I am so resistant to the idea that The Dark Knight Returns might be adapted into an animated movie, a la All-Star Superman. Is it because I thought that the animated version of A-SS replicated the action but missed the heart that made the original so special? Perhaps, but Dark Knight Returns is a shorter work than A-SS and also more weighted towards the action in the first place, so that might not be a problem. Maybe it’s that I can’t imagine DKR not being censored in some way, considering its content and what we’ve seen in the other animated movies… but perhaps I’m just being cynical about that. So why does it seem like such a bad idea?
Maybe it’s because it seems completely unnecessary. Has the world been crying out for this all along and I’ve not been paying attention? I feel the same way about this as I did the movie Watchmen: Isn’t the comic enough? Can’t something just be great as what it is, and the creators of the adaptations come up with something else, even if it’s something featuring the same characters? Unless Frank Miller somehow gets involved with this rumored animated version, I fear disaster (or worse, disasterous boredom) for this plan.
April 14th, 2011 at 3:34 pm
I tend to agree. Alan Moore asserted time and again that his work was too wedded to the comics-medium to be cinematically viable, but I would say Miller’s is even more dependent on the rat-a-tat pacing of the panel-action. Hard to see how an animated version would handle that.
April 14th, 2011 at 5:11 pm
Man, you guys are FUN-KILLERS!
Yeah, while a live action adaptation of DKR might be hard, I can totally see it working in animated form.
Yes, like Graeme said, the All-Star Superman film did lack the heart of the comic, along with other elements. But it was still a lot of F-ing fun to watch & it was great seeing Quitely’s art come to life.
That is pretty much exactly how I feel about this, & I have more of an emotional attachment to this story than AS-S. Besides, it’s straight-to-DVD. Even if it bombs & no one watches it, who cares? Let’s see big, Bad Batman breaking arms in mud & smiling.
As an aside, elements of DKR have already been animated in “Batman: TAS” & the recent “The Batman” cartoon. Just a few weeks ago in Brave & The Bold, batman fought Superman wearing the DKR armored suit. So, we’re getting conditioned for the real thing…
“It’s an operating table. And I’m the surgeon.”
Yes.
–J.
April 14th, 2011 at 6:38 pm
Of course, Graeme, you’re the same guy who wants to see NBC revive Heroes *and* see Julie Taymor direct a superhero movie… So maybe this means an animated DKR is actually a great idea?
I kid, Graeme, I kid.
Seriously, I understand your reservations. For me, nearly all of the DCAU direct-to-DVD movies have been pretty lousy. Maybe it’s because the films are simply way too short. They’re edited both for time and (in many cases) content. In the case of DKR, unless they’re willing to make it the equivalent of an R-rated movie it’s almost certainly going to pale in comparison to the comics.
Then again, that small taste of DKR we got way back when on Batman: TAS was pretty awesome. So maybe, with the right script, running time, and voice cast, it could work. Here’s a rare case where I’d want them to NOT to use Kevin Conroy. Cast Michael Ironside (who did the voice in that TAS segment) instead.
April 15th, 2011 at 11:39 am
In the commentary of the Batman: The Animated Series episode that adapted this, Bruce Timm said Frank Miller called him and told him how thrilled he was about the piece. So, I don’t think Miller would be objected to this movie.